Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that women cannot 'see' HD?

258 replies

UtterFool · 26/05/2014 01:23

I was having dinner with friends and there was some banter about my mate's new HD TV.

When his wife is watching it he always walks in and makes a huge fuss about why she's not watching said programme in HD. Apparently she cannot tell the difference so I turned to my wife and asked if she could on ours, "I cannot tell the difference either" she says Shock

I remember having the same conversation with another mate at work so am wondering if my huge sample size (of three) is representative of the entire female population?

Or perhaps some women just don't give two hoots about stuff that men get so hyped up about?

Wink
OP posts:
Bannakaffalatta · 27/05/2014 07:48

Am I your wife?

I can't tell and DH moans when I record on the normal channels. My dm is the same.

londonrach · 27/05/2014 07:53

Thanks dogwood. I don't really watch telly apart from wimbledon (can't wait) top gear and country file. Our TV is very small (14 inch). Dh not really bothered by it either. Maybe I should visit a store and flick and see if I can tell the difference....

londonrach · 27/05/2014 07:54

Is it like the emperors new clothes?

Horsemad · 27/05/2014 08:04

No londonrach, it isn't. I thought it was overhyped rubbish until we got HD tv. I'm quite cynical, but it honestly is different - much sharper and crystal clear. Smile

Perhaps it depends on what type of HD tv you have?

fieldfare · 27/05/2014 08:14

I can tell the difference but it doesn't really bother me. Dh is the opposite - will have to switch over if HD is available.
I do love it for gaming though, the Playstation is much better with our big HD TV.

Horsemad · 27/05/2014 09:17

DH who is a techy geek says televisions have refresh rates and the higher the refresh rate, the better/sharper the picture, especially noticeable on sport where the action is fast moving.

CheesyBadger · 27/05/2014 09:25

I can tell the difference but the normal picture is great quality so don't care which I watch

ToysRLuv · 27/05/2014 09:34

Forgot to add - because we are running out of space on the hard drive recorder (DH has a load of stuff there he wants to burn to disc one fine day it'll never happen and then the drive will break, we are recording any series (that are not particularly visually orientated) in LD, so even SD seems pretty good to me. HD just show all the wrinkles and pimples on people..

ToysRLuv · 27/05/2014 09:36

Sorry, that was a bit garbled and brackety..

TiredFeet · 27/05/2014 09:39

I can't tell the difference, dh can and always switches to hd channel. I don't watch that much tv though and I guess I'm not very gadgetty /visual anyway.

libertytrainers · 27/05/2014 09:44

i can tell the difference, couldn't care less though tv is still full of mostly unwatchable schmultz

Ilovexmastime · 27/05/2014 09:47

How can you NOT see the difference?! It's so obvious, at least on our tv it is.

ShakkaKhan · 27/05/2014 09:49

I can see it, but dont actually like it. I stayed in a hotel once with HD tv and we watched Pretty Woman in HD, it was really weird. The lighting looked strange, it felt like you were actually on 'stage' with the actors, really disconcerning. It also made the production look cheaper, it looked like Dynasty or something. DH agreed with me

PatriciaHolm · 27/05/2014 10:06

I can, but I don't really care that much! So DH often tuts at me for not watching something in HD when I could.

We have the opposite views on the 3D on the TV though. DD and I quite like it, DS and DH hate it!

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 27/05/2014 10:09

Can you get HD channels on Freeview? We only use Sky, our main telly is non HD, but our second might be HD, it's much newer however has an old non HD Sky box.

Minnieisthedevilmouse · 27/05/2014 10:14

I see it. I don't care about it. I notice it on things like football more tbh.

On say csi I couldn't tell you if I was watching hd or plain without the channel signifier in the top corner.

Dh always knows whether that's there or not. I don't know how really. And again find it quite hard to care much...

GarlicMayonnaise · 27/05/2014 10:19

Freeview has HD channels. If you buy an HD TV with Freeview built in (and are in an area that receives Freeview over the air), all you need to do is plug your aerial into it :)

If you're in a satellite-only area, your Sky dish can receive Freesat, which has HD channels. You may need an extra cable from your dish - HD needs two cables. You can do this yourself for about £20, or pay a local geezer £70 to do it, and you'll need a Freesat box which cost between £30 and £150.

GarlicMayonnaise · 27/05/2014 10:22

Sprry, whoknows, I meant to add that you can look at the model number of your second telly. If it has HD somewhere in it, it's HD.

hiccupgirl · 27/05/2014 10:26

Female and can def tell the difference but tbh it's not something that is of enough importance in my life to care about! Sometimes I put the HD channels on, mostly I don't.

What does wind me up is sound quality. I can watch TV with crappy breaking pictures but the second the sound isn't quite right I have to turn it off. So maybe it's just more which you're sensitive too?

HavannaSlife · 27/05/2014 10:26

We dont have it but I have watched hd and there doesnt seem to be much difference to me

PaulinesPen · 27/05/2014 10:32

The only time I've seen a slight difference was when football was on and dh was saying in exasperation 'there, there...look at the clarity of the grass. You MUST be able to see how clear the grass is'. But as I detest football and don't have any strong feelings about the grass they were running about on either I was still Confused about the wonders of HD.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 27/05/2014 10:48

Thanks Garlic, the Sky box is Sky+ (nonHD) so it does have 2 inputs, the Freeview is built in. We have Freeview, but only got it when terrestrial switched off and never got in the habit of using it, having already had Sky for years. It's only a small telly though. Will investigate.

Popsielady · 27/05/2014 12:07

Completely agree with generally everything being said here - glad I'm not the only one! My dh takes it to the extreme and even insists we watch the BBC news at 10 in HD, and then when it comes to the local BBC news at 10 South (which is NOT transmitted in HD) that comes on afterwards, we have to scrabble around to get back to the "normal" BBC1 channel asap so we do not miss it - honestly!!!!

calzone · 27/05/2014 12:09

I cannot tell the difference and dh will only watch HD.

AMumInScotland · 27/05/2014 12:52

Wow, I'm amazed that people can't tell any difference. There's a huge difference on our TV when watching the standard and HD versions of the same channel.

Not caring I can understand. There still isn't much worth watching...